


"Red, White and the blues" (Thoughts of a turtle)

by Frasers_soulmate



Category: due South
Genre: Animals, Food Metaphors, Humor, Missing Persons, Moving, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 11:26:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14747922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frasers_soulmate/pseuds/Frasers_soulmate
Summary: RayK forgot to feed Turtle for a few days. Turtle doesn't like it and wants to figure out what's wrong with him.





	"Red, White and the blues" (Thoughts of a turtle)

**Author's Note:**

> Because yesterday was International Turtles Day I thought of a fic about Ray's turtle.  
> Someone gave me a plot and I just typed it on the phone in the middle of the night.  
> Please don't judge me. :)
> 
> This is for my friend Nancy, who's her birthday today.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANCY!

"Damn it! Nothing in the food bowl again." Turtle was disappointed. Master Ray had become careless since the guy with the red jacket and his funny, hairy, four-legged friend came to his home on a regular basis. 

The White scared him. He was constantly snooping around and getting close to his glass home. Why did Master Ray always have to bring this animal?  
Turtle was happy about his glass cage. He could look out, but the White didn't come in. That was good.  
More than good.  
He was scary.  
And when Master Ray and his buddy in the red jacket came home with pizza, the White always got a piece of it.  
But Turtle himself hadn't gotten anything for three days. Not even a salad leaf.

The guy in the red jacket and the White hadn't been here for a long time.  
Turtle couldn't remember when he had last seen them.

Not that he missed them ...

The White was scary with his snooping, but the guy in the red jacket was weird. He always looked so funny in Turtle's terrarium.  
Yet he seemed nice, because whenever he looked with this funny look into the terrarium, he said something in "Human" to Master Ray and he then filled Turtle's food bowl.  
Turtle had found out, even though he didn't understand "Human", that the guy in the red jacket reminded Master Ray that he had to feed him, Turtle.

So Turtle decided to like the guy in the red jacket.  
Sometimes he didn't come in the red jacket but in casual clothes as Master Ray wore them. Then he was very different. Not so stiff and formal. He sometimes even laughed when Master Ray said something. Probably something funny.  
Turtle didn't know if the guy in the red jacket wouldn't laugh when wearing the red jacket, or if Master Ray had nothing funny to say then.

He really should learn "Human" ...

But now he was hungry.  
Really hungry.  
The last water was almost empty.  
Master Ray should finally feed him!

But he didn't do it. When he got home, he just took a bottle out of the fridge, sat down on the sofa, turned on this thing with the flickering images, and stared straight ahead.  
Turtle liked the flickering thing. It was exciting, even if he didn't quite understand what was happening there.

Master Ray, on the other hand, didn't seem to pay much attention to this thing.  
He drank some bottles of the stuff that made him strange.  
Sometimes he got angry and even hit the walls.  
Sometimes he cried.  
That worried turtle. He actually liked Master Ray, but when he got angry, Turtle got scared.  
Master Ray was spirited, and Turtle was afraid that one day he accidentally smashed the terrarium, leaving him with no home.

But lately Master Ray has been quiet.

He did not yell or hit the walls, so Turtle anxiously withdrew into his shell.

He did not cry anymore.

He did not feed Turtle anymore.

He sat on the sofa, staring at the flickering thing without really seeing anything and brooding to himself.

Well, Turtle knew that turtles could live without food for a long time, but how long?  
What if Master Ray never fed him again?

He didn't even feed himself.

Now, Turtle wished the guy in the red jacket back. At least he reminded Master Ray to feed him.  
He wouldn't mind if the White came along.

After a week, Master Ray left the house very early. Earlier than usual. That wasn't normal.  
Lately, he slept for a long time, cared for nothing, and seemed to have completely forgotten even Turtle.

Turtle guessed he missed the Red.  
Maybe even the White.  
He just didn't understand why.  
And where they had gone.  
And why they didn't come anymore.

He retreated to his shell and thought.  
If only he could help Master Ray ...

At some point he fell asleep.

Turtle woke up by someone pushing aside the glass lid of his terrarium.  
Carefully, he peered out of his shell and stared in astonishment at Master Ray.

He looked guilty and said something that Turtle didn't understand, but realized it was supposed to be an apology.

Master Ray put a bowl of fruit pieces, lettuce and a bowl of fresh water in the terrarium.

Amazed, Turtle looked up at him.  
What happened?  
What did he say there?  
If Turtle could only understand "Human" ...

He looked around Master Ray's home.  
Maybe the Red had returned? And the White?  
But he couldn't see them.

The bowl of fruit and vegetables smelt heavenly and he lunged at it with incredible speed...for turtles.

Everything else could wait, he needed food first.  
When he had eaten, he expected Master Ray to be brooding on the couch, but he was surprised that he had turned on the stereo and danced around the room.  
Incidentally, he packed some things.

Late at night, Master Ray came to Turtle's terrarium again, stretched out his finger and gently stroked his head.  
He had rarely done that, lately, and Turtle was so surprised that he forgot to hide in his shell.

Turtle and man looked at each other for a while, then Master Ray said:  
"Hey, Turtle! We move to Canada, how do you like that? "

Turtle didn't understand "Human," but he understood that Master Ray was happy again.


End file.
